Book Notice: Alister McGrath on Faith and the Creeds

Alister McGrath

Faith and the Creeds
Christian Belief for Everyone
London: SPCK, 2013
Available at Amazon.com

Alister McGrath’s series on “Christian Belief for Everyone” has a good starter in Faith and the Creeds which is a prolegomena to a study of the creeds. This volume predominantly talks about the meaning of faith and how the creeds relate to faith. It reads very easily and is filled with illustrations, stories, and examples drawn from McGrath’s life experience, literature, and movies (and lots of C.S. Lewis).  In particular I liked this quote from the book:

The creeds are primarily communal confessions of faith, setting out the vision of reality that has given – and still gives – life purpose and direction to the Christian community down the ages. When I recite the creeds, It think of myself as doing three things. First, I am remembering the ‘big picture’ that underlies the Christian faith. Second, I am affirming that I am part of this believing community. And third, I am declaring my willingness to explore what I have not yet encountered and affirm what I have not yet understood. The creeds are aspiration: they set out a vision that they invite us to share, even though man of us are still exploring individual aspects of that vision.